DOVE Dark Chocolate for Baking

Do you remember, Sisters and Brothers, our interview in January with Food Network's Claire Robinson?  If not or if you want to review that, you may do so here.  Today we are going to feature one of the three types of chocolate bars we were sent for that interview and giveaway using one of Claire Robinson's own recipes: "Flourless DOVE Dark Chocolate Lover's Cake."  Her recipe only calls for two bars so I used... you'll see if you keep reading.  When we had a break from some pretty crazy warm weather I felt I really wanted to do some baking and thus I was able to do this feature as well.  We'll cover the other DOVE products later in the year.

I followed Claire's recipe minus the whipping cream for the topping, I wanted to do something else.  I substituted a few things as well as you'll see below.

First I drew a circle using my 9in round pan on the parchment paper. I cut that circle slightly smaller and it fit fairly well into the bottom of the pan.  Then I turned on my stove on 375ºF so it could heat up while I made the batter.

First I measured out 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa with 1/4 cup regular cocoa powder.  That was as close to a 70% dark cocoa that I could find and I think it worked fairly well.

As you can see, these 3.3oz DOVE Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate bars are sectioned into small pieces so they are very easy to break apart for melting.  While about two inches of water in the bottom part of my glass double boiler that I've had for almost twenty years heated to a simmer, I broke apart two of the three dark chocolate bars we were sent.  I put these in the top pan along with cut up pieces of a half cup butter.  I put this second pan on the first and focused on the next step as it heated up.

I used Egg Beaters and measured out 5 eggs worth, 1.25 cups.  I whisked these and they do indeed froth up a bit in between checking on and stirring the butter and chocolate that was melting.  When it was all melted I turned off the stove and set the top pan on the counter near my eggs.

After one final whisking, I add in the eggs and blended them all together.

I added in the cocoa powder slowly and folded it in with a plastic spatula.  This was actually difficult, the cocoa really wanted to coat the pan but I kept at it until it looked blended it but a bit lumpy still.

Then I poured it as evenly as I could into the baking dish.   Here you can see it in the oven before I closed the door.

It baked for 25 minutes and then I touched it and made sure a crust was formed.  I set it on my dining room table to cool for 10 minutes then used a knife to loosen the edges all around.

I turned it out onto my green cake cover that I've also had for 20 years.  I need some new things, don't I?  Then I let it cool overnight.  I know, I know, perhaps this is meant to be eaten right away but I had an idea for a topping.

The next day I melted together the third part of DOVE dark chocolate with 1/4 cup of skim milk.  I just used my microwave, heating these for 50 seconds and then stirring and stirring.  I let that cool for two minutes and then stirred it again.

While it was cooling, I cut the cake into 12 pieces, this is a very rich cake and my topping is about to make it richer, so 12 pieces is a good idea in terms of moderation.

Then I slowly poured the topping over the cake.  Some of it did drip off but most stayed on the cake.

That evening, I shared it with others and we had these slices.  How does it look, Sisters and Brothers?

The DOVE Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate Bar was great for baking or cooking with.  Made of natural ingredients it is real chocolate so you can feel good on that level.  The way it is sectioned made it so easy to break apart and all of those small pieces had enough surface area to melt quickly and smoothly.